The invention relates to a seat, and more particularly a seat which can be used as a vehicle seat in public transportation.
In designing a vehicle seat for modern rail transport systems, a structure must absorb the relatively high operational stresses which, while presenting minimum mass, provides a high degree of convenience for the passenger. At the same time, it must be capable of being manufactured economically.
Conventional vehicle seats at present are generally characterized by structure comprised of a plurality of components, e.g. an auxiliary frame for receiving components of the seat and backrest and further including armrests and headrests, and a plurality of different coverings.
One such known design discloses a seat constructed by connecting a force-absorbing tubular frame or frame portions of cast metal or of shaped sheet metal with drawn metal shells or laminated plastic components in such a way that the forces which are transmitted to the seat and backrest components via the upholstered portions are transmitted to the support feet and through these into the vehicle structure (DE OS 29 28 852, DE OS 33 28 825, DE OS 28 07 023, DE OS 32 03 670). Further auxiliary frames are conventionally used for attaching the armrests and headrests.
According to another known approach, a seat is formed in such a way that a sandwich shell on an auxiliary frame (DE OS 38 11 939) transmits the forces. Various solutions are also known for attaching the upholstery (DE OS 42 14 510).
A feature common to all these solutions is the large number of different structural members utilized. Due to the design principles normally applied, and to the manufacturing methods resulting therefrom, the members are usually produced as individual parts, i.e. they can be used only to a limited extent in making other seats with differing degrees of comfort. The alignment of individual seats next to one another in order to produce a multiple seat is only possible by means of a subframe. This subframe leads to additional manufacturing work and a limitation of the available space for the passengers' feet. The cleaning of vehicles fitted with such sub-frames is also inconvenient.